Outside Rybachye village the traffic increased, which was not surprising - the big Crimean resorts were just ahead of us. These first days of cycling were the worst for me. I had not been cycling for a year and a half, and I could feel it. Cycling uphill all day long with the sun at its zenith until 5 pm. I kept telling myself that after each uphill there is a downhill, but it did not work. Then I had a slight sunstroke and Igor had to unfold one of the bags so that I could rest in the shade. An hour later, I felt better and could continue cycling, but my sore thighs protested each time my foot pressed the pedal. I had to walk the bike at times, next I cycled uphill for a few dozen metres, and after that I walked the bike up the hill again. Finally there was a reward – a 4.5 km downhill ride! Could anything spoil it? Yes – ruts and potholes. Igor was cycling at 55 km/h when the trailer started shaking and, as he said, "he already imagined his butt scratching the asphalt". However, he overcame that difficulty. My bike, in turn, bounced on the ruts twice, and I was hit hard by the saddle. If I were a man, I would have fallen off the bike ;-). Afterwards there were some more slopes. We took a side road and headed downhill towards the sea. There were a couple of houses, some of them under construction. We passed a block of flats, wishing to sit somewhere in the shade and enjoy the sea breeze. After a few minutes, one of the builders came to us and brought us chairs. He also offered us a cup of tea. After half an hour's rest, having drunk the tea under the watchful eye of the kind builder, we got our second wind. That was one of the moments which could not be experienced when travelling by a car or a bus.

We had to continue, pedalling uphill all the time. Again, I took turns walking the bike and cycling every now and then. Unfortunately, these short breaks did not do much for me. We started to think about a one-day break and, right on cue, a beautiful serpentine downhill run appeared – almost 5 km long! But after that, a beautiful uphill road sprang up. That was rather demotivating for me. I still had tears of despair in my eyes when Igor noticed a road to Kanaka resort. Being aware of my physical and mental condition, Igor decided to turn left there. I love him for that! A shady, two-kilometre road, gentle wind, mmm.....that was just what we needed that day. Two big sanatorium-like guesthouses and a few smaller ones. A small market square with stalls and two "magazin" (shops). We found accommodation right away – in "Kaspij" guesthouse. A spacious room with a separate bathroom, a refrigerator and outdoor porch chairs – splendid! We bargained the price down to UAH 350 for a double room for 2 nights. Then the standard procedure: taking a shower, washing clothes and eating. For lunch, we had delicious borsch and pasta with meatballs. For breakfast we bought bread, butter and cheese. Ah! And the best purchase – an immersion heater for UAH 6! It allows to make tea without pulling out mess tins and a camp stove, if only there is a socket available. We got back to our room, as I heard our wide, hard bed calling us...

Daily statistics: we covered a distance of 50 km, averaging 11 km/h. Our maximum speed was 68 km/h, and I walked the bike for 1.2 km.